You and Me and Everybody Else: We Belong

Is it possible to love everyone without fear, prejudice or personal preference? Brandon Cox shows us how to go about it.

I’m white. So when I die, I’ll go to white heaven, right? Actually, a Jewish man named John once had a God-given vision of what heaven would look like, and what he saw was more like “a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9 NLT)

Heaven is God’s ideal — the ultimate restoration and renovation of the earth and universe into what He has envisioned as perfection for eternity, and it’s made up of people from every tribe on earth. Furthermore, in spite of our best efforts to segregate the church into congregations based on ethnicity, God’s real plan for the church is to be a family where everyone belongs on the basis of their relationship with Jesus Christ.

For you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28 NLT)

When my wife and I started the work of planting Grace Hills, we were determined from day one that we would lead a church that welcomes people from all walks of life. In our core values, it’s stated this way: Everybody belongs. When we say everybody, we mean every color, every shape, every personality, and people with every kind of story imaginable. Everyone belongs, even before they believe.

I realize that’s a statement that might evoke theological objection from some, especially that last sentence, who are zealous for a church made up only of true believers in Jesus. The Bible is clear that faith in Jesus Christ is the one and only way to peace with God and membership in His eternal family.

We are not all children of God. His family is composed only of those who have consciously received His Son, Jesus. But every church ought to be adopting, and in order to adopt people into God’s family, we need to love them and include them like family, even before they believe.

Our philosophy is that if you hang around our church and let us love on you and care for you like family, you’re more likely to be convinced that we mean what we say when we say we’d like to adopt and include you. The gospel’s credibility is boosted when we love and accept people, even when we can’t approve of some of their choices on the grounds of eternal truth. So we make it ultra clear that everybody belongs, and everybody is welcome. And we get specific:

People of every color belong.

Not just black, white and tan, but every flavor of humanity, people from every socio-economic status and income level, every language group and every ethnicity. Ethnicity is more than race. Our race is about the genetic and physical uniqueness passed on to us from our ancestors, but ethnicity includes our cultural heritage as well. Some call America a melting pot where people from every culture blend together. My wife, a social worker, is quick to point out that we shouldn’t aim to melt anyone’s culture away, but instead we should be more like a tossed salad where various cultures mix and mingle, each with the freedom to retain their own unique story.

People of every shape belong.

Physically? Sure. Every height, build and weight range are certainly welcome, but when we use the word shape, we’re signaling a reference to the idea that we each have a unique makeup of abilities and spiritual gifts, passions, personality types and experiences. The body of Christ has its hands, eyes, feet and even its spleen, and everybody needs each other — even those who tend to be a little grouchy and hard to get along with sometimes.

Continue Reading

Brandon Cox

Brandon Cox is Lead Pastor of Grace Hills Church, a new church plant in northwest Arkansas. He also serves as Editor and Community Facilitator for Pastors.com and Rick Warren's Pastor's Toolbox and was formerly a Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In his spare time, he offers consultation to church leaders about communication, branding, and social media. He and his wife, Angie, live with their two awesome kids in Bentonville, Arkansas.